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Friday, July 30, 2010

In a year when for the most part the news has been bad or worse, when NYRA’s neighbors to the south have been grabbing all the headlines and some of its horses, too, the locals finally won one.

And so two days before Monmouth Park stages their Haskell Invitation, the centerpiece of their summer meet and the consensus three-year-old race of the year to date, Saratoga grabbed the national headlines.

Said NYRA President Charlie Hayward in a NYRA press release, “We’re delighted that Mr. [Jess] Jackson has decided to race Rachel Alexandra in the Personal Ensign on August 29...With Travers Day on August 28, that weekend is lining up to be one of the best in this racetrack’s storied history.”

And if Zenyatta decides to show up, what then?

As this is written, there’s been no official word from Zenyatta’s owners as to whether the big mare will be joining Rachel and friends in the Saratoga starting gate.

It’s not likely that Mr. and Mrs. Moss need the money but a little incentive might be appreciated. In the official release, the amount of the purse was not disclosed, leaving room for negotiations with the Zenyatta and Rachel camps, or both.

The good news is that it will be Jerry Moss who makes the final decision to ship to Saratoga or not. If it were up to trainer John Shirreffs, the news for those anticipating a first ever meeting is not good.

“No way,” Shirreffs told Tim Wilkin of the Albany-Times Union shortly after the announcement was made. “We’re committed to running in the [Clement] Hirsch.”

“Is there anything that the NYRA could do to tempt you to change your mind?” Wilkin asked.

“No,” Shirreffs said.

Is this the real start of negotiations between the NYRA and the Zenyatta camp? Maybe, maybe not.

But if Zenyatta’s people want to add to her legacy and ultimately be regarded as the best horse of all time of either sex, there are at least four reasons to ship to Saratoga, especially if they think that Rachel’s effort in the Lady’s Secret wasn’t all that.

The second reason to come is 10 furlongs, a distance at which she became the first female winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Third is the fact that the big mare doesn’t care for the Del Mar synthetic surface, and she loved dirt when she raced at Oaklawn Park.

Fourth, there is no longer a detention barn in New York. Shirreffs said several years ago that he would never ship to New York again after having had a bad experience with Giacomo, or Tiago, or both, in what euphemistically has been referred to as “Little Guantanamo.”

Or maybe she’s ducking Delaware Handicap heroine Life At Ten?

(Note to Z Zealots: This is what’s called an attempt at humor).

If Zenyatta doesn’t show up at Saratoga this summer, it’s probably for one reason, and one reason only.

As a horseman posited one morning on the Saratoga backside over coffee, it has all to do with the mare herself.

What’s become known as the Zenyatta dance is more than a quaint equine show-and-tell trick. What it is is this tremendously hot kettle getting ready to boil over at any moment.

The theory here is that it’s been Shirreffs’ genius that has prevented it from happening already. He’s managed to keep the lid on for almost four full years of racing, and now that it’s closer to the end than the beginning, there’s no sense in tempting the racing gods at this point.

If that’s true, Shirreffs should just come out and say so. If Jackson owed the NYRA an appearance of his star filly at Saratoga, doesn’t Shirreffs, or the Mosses, or Dottie Ingordo--anybody--ought to tell racing fans why.

This isn’t an East vs. West thing: It’s a sport of thoroughbred racing and its loyal fans thing.

Whether Zenyatta shows up or not, August 29, the day after Travers, will be a celebration. You’d have to speculate that every person that was on hand for last year’s bombastic Woodward will return. In all probability, it will be the last time Saratoga fans and visitors get to see the Horse of the Year 2009 in competition at Saratoga Race Course.

And that will have to do, and that would be pretty good enough. Congratulations to Rachel’s camp for making the decision quickly following her Lady’s Secret effort. There was no talk of after the next workout, or of the lingering effects of racing when the Heat Index read 104.

“Rachel feels very much at home among great Saratoga fans,” said Jackson in a prepared statement. “It’s an historic race named after a great champion. The timing is right for Rachel.”

And it couldn’t have come at a better time for New York racing, either.

My thoughts are that Jerry Moss has a great deal of contempt for the Eastern Turf writers-yes that includes you John-for the ‘09 snub. Remember his facial expression when the announcement was made. He just can’t seem to move past that and I believe that is the driving force behind his decision not to come. It is also well documented that the mare dislikes take-offs and landings so they will keep those issues to absolute necessity i.e. going to Louisville and from there vanning to her retirement facility. There is always the possibility that they change plans especially in light of the quirky Del Mar surface so we’ll see what happens next week. But don’t get your hopes up.

For someone who’s been awaiting installation of VLTs at Aqueduct for nine years, I won’t get bent out of shape if it didn’t happen.
As a turf writer, I’m used to a little contempt here and there. But I’ve always believed a body of work means something, and given that I’ve been kicking around ractracks for four decades, I’ve learned not to get too high or too low.
If you’re right--and yes, I remember the look on Mr. Moss’s face, I say get over it. Or do something about it.
Thanks for the note.

I am completely bored by the Rachel/Zenyatta sturm and drang. However, I am concerned by your statement that Zenyatta can even be considered as the best horse, male or female of all time. While i agree that her record deserves consideration with the greatest fillies of all time, that same record is not a sufficient basis to engage in consideration with the great males of the past 100 years.

For those of us who spent the majority of our youth watching Secretariat, Forego, Slew, Affirmed, Alydar and Spec Bid, I can’t for the life of me put Zenyatta in that ballpark. For the children of the 60s who watched Kelso, Dr. Fager, Buckpasser and Damascus, the same sentiment applies, and we haven’t even mentioned Citation or the other Triple Crown winners.

So, praise Zenyatta all you want, but please do not defile the accomplishments or abilities of the greatest males of yesteryear!

I am completely bored by the Rachel/Zenyatta sturm and drang. However, I am concerned by your statement that Zenyatta can even be considered as the best horse, male or female of all time. While i agree that her record deserves consideration with the greatest fillies of all time, that same record is not a sufficient basis to engage in consideration with the great males of the past 100 years.

For those of us who spent the majority of our youth watching Secretariat, Forego, Slew, Affirmed, Alydar and Spec Bid, I can’t for the life of me put Zenyatta in that ballpark. For the children of the 60s who watched Kelso, Dr. Fager, Buckpasser and Damascus, the same sentiment applies, and we haven’t even mentioned Citation or the other Triple Crown winners.

So, praise Zenyatta all you want, but please do not defile the accomplishments or abilities of the greatest males of yesteryear!

One, I said she would be in the conversation. Second, I didn’t defile anyone. For me it’s not either or. When I get into handicapping mode, I never picture another horse beating Secretariat and Kelso, to name two.
And maybe you’re bored with RA and Z. But the fact that they’re both unquestionably great horses, came around at the same time, and are females is a story that doesn’t get old for me.
Besides, you have a positive story idea you’d like to pitch? I’m all ears.

Mousse,
Certainly Moss is unhappy about losing HOY, but I think it primarily affects his long-term strategy, and not his decision to stay home and help a beleaguered CA track he regulates have a big day while still ready to take on all comers in a G1 who are willing to cross the Rockies as he did earlier in the year.

The shoe is on the other foot now. It is Rachel with 2 losses and 0 G1 wins who must come after Zen to regain her status. Zen will probably stay in CA for the G1 race that now bears her name and then ship to KY for the BC seeking her 20th consecutive victory and HOY.

I think the back-to-back bashing of Del Mar by the Ha-Ha twins last year right in front of the media blew it for them this year. Hayward couldn’t get the BC and now he can’t get Zen. Maybe NYRA should offer Kulina the job next year.

Why should Moss ship the start just to take on RA, Zen doesnt have to prove anything , she already has since March this year, ON the other hand JJ and RA have a whole lot to prove. RA iant what she was last year, she is below , Zen is the champ and she already came for RA and she was a no show......And if JJ got scared at the last minute he would scratch RA and leave the champion Zen running agaisnt claimers . So no way, should they ship the champ to the PE, lets see if RA will be able to run effectively in the PE first.......IF she is good enough , she will take the champ on in the BCC. bout the BCC this year, Its not going to be QR bringing the fans to the sport at CD it is going to be Zenyatta. NOthing else..People are going to want to see if Zen not only can defend her title but they are going to want to see how big QR thinks he is and if he can give the big girl a run for the money..........I put my money on Zneyatta over QR and the rest of them anyday.......She is powerful enough to hold them all off in the final quarter of the 1 1/4 in the BCC. Enough of the so yesterday’s news RA. gosh I am over her and her one year wonder marathon. Send her to the breeding shed....she will never be the superior horse at all…

PJJ,
I’m sure Moss would also scratch his horse in a New York minute if he thought she wasn’t at her best, but I doubt he would back out of a race he committed to if she were. So I agree. a rachel-less Personal Ensign would not accomplish anything for him or California racing.

Assuming HOY is the objective, beating Rachel by hersef might not accomplish that. Better to ship for all the marbles.

If JJ wants another HOY, he should consider the Pcific Classic rather than the Personal Ensign.

You lost me somewhere in the middle when you went on with something about coffee on the backside of Saratoga...then Zenyatta and her dance...a hot kettle ready to boil over...John Shirreffs preventing something from happening...then keeping the lid on something.

John, what the heck are you talking about?

Also, you also mention something about Zenyatta being regarded the best horse of all time of either sex.

I think you mean being mentioned as the greatest American female racehorse of all time, or at least in the last fifty years.

And John, according to many that train has already left the station.

In a recent Bloodhorse poll Zenyatta had almost twice as many first place votes as Ruffian, and almost as many as the other horses, including Ruffian put together.

The Daily Racing Form is also conducting a similiar poll about the greatest female racehorse in America in the last fifty years. Zenyatta, again, has an overwhelming lead over Ruffian.

In fact, the Racing Post as well as Jon White of HRTV have both expressed that if Zenyatta wins her remaining races which must include the title defense of her Classic, she will and should break the glass ceiling for American female racehorses and break into the top ten all time of America’s greatest thoroughbreds.

I wholeheartedly agree.

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